<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" id="isPasted">NEW YORK:&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taylor Swift&rsquo;s 12th studio album,&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Life of a Showgirl,<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;released Friday, declares that her heir apparent is none other than herself.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her last album,&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Tortured Poets Department,<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;ended with the cautionary &ldquo;Clara Bow,&rdquo; an allegory that suggested her tenure atop the cultural mainstream was inherited from stars of the past, such as the name-checked Stevie Nicks &mdash; and that a younger generation of female pop performers could soon take her place.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2025, there are plenty of candidates: Chappell Roan&rsquo;s theatrical style, Olivia Rodrigo&rsquo;s fiery punk-pop feminism, and Sabrina Carpenter&rsquo;s playful sensuality. But in the knotty themes of Friday&rsquo;s&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Life of a Showgirl,<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;best illustrated in the title track, Swift asserts that the baton has not been passed, but rather shared. She is not going anywhere.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;And all the headshots on the walls / Of the dance halls are of the b------ / Who wish I&rsquo;d hurry up and die,&rdquo; she sings with a wink. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m immortal now, baby dolls / I couldn&rsquo;t if I tried.&rdquo; Notably, if she has a chosen successor, it is the album&rsquo;s sole featured guest: Carpenter, who appears on the stomp-clap closer with a newly adopted twang. The mournful lap steel &mdash; the album&rsquo;s most country moment &mdash; accompanies Carpenter&rsquo;s entrance. Country is Swift&rsquo;s past and Carpenter&rsquo;s future.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suggestive bangers and a &lsquo;New Heights&rsquo; nod <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;If Swift is co-signing Carpenter, she is also learning from her. Carpenter has mastered tight pop songs with an edge; Swift mirrors that energy in the George Michael-interpolating &ldquo;Father Figure&rdquo; and the funky &ldquo;Wood.&rdquo; In the latter, she slyly sings, &ldquo;His love was the key / That opened my thighs.&rdquo; She adds, &ldquo;Girls, I don&rsquo;t need to catch the bouquet / To know a hard rock is on the way.&rdquo; Interwoven are sensual ad-libs and a direct reference to fianc&eacute; Travis Kelce&rsquo;s podcast.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Across a brisk 12 tracks &mdash; restrained compared to her sprawling double albums &mdash;&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Life of a Showgirl<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;mostly fulfills its promise of up-tempo pop &ldquo;bangers.&rdquo; Fans awaiting&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reputation (Taylor&rsquo;s Version)<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;may hear echoes of its essence here, though filtered through the affection of her&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lover<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;era.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As in&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reputation,<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;Swift responds to criticisms head-on. On &ldquo;CANCELLED!&rdquo; and &ldquo;Elizabeth Taylor,&rdquo; she reflects on perception and legacy. &ldquo;Hollywood hates me / You&rsquo;re only as hot as your last hit, baby,&rdquo; she sings. But unlike her past work, love steadies her. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t have fun if I can&rsquo;t have you,&rdquo; she flirts.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome (back) to Sweden <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;For this project, Swift reunited with Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback, her collaborators on&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Red,<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1989<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;and&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reputation.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;Absent is frequent partner Jack Antonoff. The shift pays off: A decade ago, Swift, Martin and Shellback&rsquo;s experiments reshaped not only her career but mainstream pop itself.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Life of a Showgirl<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;may not feel seismic, it brims with addictive Swiftisms &mdash; wit, literary flourishes and crystalline hooks. Songs like &ldquo;Opalite&rdquo; shimmer with layered harmonies and vintage swing. Meanwhile, &ldquo;The Fate of Ophelia&rdquo; bursts with 1980s-style synth-pop, echoing Robyn and a touch of Lana Del Rey.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fans will find quotable gems, too. On &ldquo;Wi$h Li$t,&rdquo; she pleads, &ldquo;Please God bring me a best friend who I think is hot,&rdquo; before sketching suburban dreams of &ldquo;a couple kids &hellip; a driveway with a basketball hoop.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dictionary of a showgirl <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;Swift&rsquo;s dense vocabulary dazzles but occasionally overreaches, as in the line-heavy &ldquo;Father Figure,&rdquo; where cleverness outpaces cadence. Elsewhere, she leans too trendy, as in &ldquo;Eldest Daughter,&rdquo; which references &ldquo;trolling,&rdquo; &ldquo;memes&rdquo; and &ldquo;comments,&rdquo; risking quick obsolescence. Still, its acoustic emo balladry &mdash; about &ldquo;terminal uniqueness&rdquo; and deep devotion &mdash; resonates. It contrasts with &ldquo;Actually Romantic,&rdquo; a sharp pop-punk track with echoes of Hayley Williams and boygenius.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Swift has said the album channels her &ldquo;Eras Tour&rdquo; &mdash; a global phenomenon spanning more than three hours of spectacle. On these 12 songs, she captures that glitz with humanity and humor. She does not linger backstage. The show has already begun.

People wait to enter a Spotify pop-up event for Taylor Swift’s album "The Life of a Showgirl" in New York City, U.S., September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

Entertainment

Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, released Friday, declares that her heir apparent is none other than herself.

Articles tagged with "Taylor album"

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ debuts to buzz and early reviews